By Anne Keever Cannon, APR

I believe in accreditation.

We’ve seen lots of opinions overthe years in favor of and against public relations accreditation. One oldargument is that “APR” doesn’t equal a bigger paycheck. That may be true.Nevertheless, the process helped me greatly increase my knowledge and expertisein the field.

That’s because I came to PRthrough a side door. I studied Spanish in college with a vague intention offoreign service. After a 5-year stint in the Air Force, I got a master’s intheater, with the idea of becoming an actor. Finally the Army hired me as anintern in public affairs (what the federal government calls public relations).

That got me two years ofon-the-job training and two months at the Defense Information School. I had thebasics—news writing, photography, media relations, community relations, how towrite a speech, etc. I was doing OK.

Some years later my boss at aCorps of Engineers office in Dallas told me about PRSA and accreditation. Sheencouraged me to join the organization. She sent me to a two-day PR seminar atSouthern Methodist University. The speakers talked about measurement, strategicplanning and other things that were new—and very interesting—to me. The DallasPRSA chapter offered free accreditation preparation classes on PR history, thecode of ethics and much more. I got my APR in 1991.

When the accreditationmaintenance program began, it stretched me again. I took seminars, gavepresentations myself, attended the national conference and became active in theDallas chapter. (Full disclosure: I was accredited soooo long ago that I’mexempt from the maintenance program. But I still try to keep it in mind andcontinue my professional development.)

So I always encourage students or new PR folks to pursueaccreditation—even though many of them have the educational background that Ilacked. Putting together that portfolio (something I didn’t have to do back inthe “old days”) can help identify strengths and weaknesses. The exampreparation serves as a skills review. The maintenance program pushes people tobrush up on some areas and learn new ones.

The bottom line: Accreditationand maintenance make up an outstanding way to develop and to keepcurrent—something that’s especially important in this fast-changing world.